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Pirate's treasure : East Carolina University Special Collections Department newsletter

Pirate's treasure : East Carolina University Special Collections Department newsletter

MAJOR EXHIBIT TRACES CAREER OF A. R. AMMONS
A major exhibit on display in the Special Collections Department through June 30, 2009, traces the career of North Carolina-born poet A. R. ―Archie‖ Ammons. Drawn from the A. R. Ammons Papers, which were donated in 2007 by M. Reid and Susan W. Overcash of Raleigh, the exhibit contains manuscript and typescript poems, Ammons’s notebooks, an account of the poet’s meeting with William Carlos Williams in 1960, photographs, published works, and original watercolors painted by Ammons between 1977 and 1980. Among these is a haunting self-portrait.
Ammons (1926-2001) grew up near Whiteville, North Carolina, and attended Wake Forest College and the University of California, Berkeley. He taught poetry for many years in the Department of English at Cornell University. His poems, many of which reflect his rural roots in southeastern North Carolina, earned Ammons international acclaim. These appeared in such books as Collected Poems, 1951-1971; Garbage; Sphere: The Form of a Motion; and A Coast of Trees: Poems. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Book Award, the
Frost Medal given by the Poetry Society of America, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Tanning Prize.
Curated by Professor Jonathan Dembo, the exhibit is accompanied by a full-color catalog, A. R. Ammons’s Poetry and Art: A Documentary Exhibit. Copies of the catalog may be requested by calling Ms. Nanette Hardison at (252) 328-0404. The exhibit may be viewed during regular hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
-Maury York
INSIDE
THIS
ISSUE:
EXHIBIT CELEBRATES THE LIFE AND CAREER OF D. D. GARRETT ...............................2
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT RESEARCH TRAVEL AWARDS PROGRAM .......2
SEEDS OF CHANGE SPOTLIGHTS POST-WAR EASTERN N.C..................................3
10,000th ENTRY ADDED TO NORTH CAROLINA PERIODICALS INDEX ………..........3
NCC STAFF MEMBER PRODUCES NEW BOOK ................4
NEW WEB-BASED TUTORIALS INTRODUCED .................................4
RECENT ACQUISITIONS................5
FEATURED IMAGE .........................6
SCHLOBIN COLLECTION ASSISTS LEADING DICTIONARY ...................................6
DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ANNOUNCES ALL-NEW PORTAL............................................7
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT HOURS
MONDAY-FRIDAY 8:00am - 5:00pm SATURDAY-SUNDAY 1:00pm - 5:00pm
NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION HOURS
MONDAY-THURSDAY 8:00am -10:00pm FRIDAY 8:00am - 6:00pm SATURDAY 10:00am - 6:00pm SUNDAY 1:00pm - 10:00pm
For closing dates, please consult the departments’ websites. Contact information is available on back page.
Ammons’s self-portrait currently on display in the Special Collections Department.
Pirate’s Treasure has a new focus! Joyner Library’s Special Collections Department began this newsletter in 2006 to publicize the department’s holdings, services, and initiatives. The next year, a task force appointed by Dean Larry Boyer led staff throughout Joyner Library in re-visioning the organization. Following one of the recommendations of the task force, Dean Boyer brought together Digital Collections, the Special Collections Department, and the Verona Joyner Langford North Carolina Collection under the direction of the Assistant Director for Special Col-lections. As a result of this change, Pirate’s Treasure will report news of all three of these closely aligned depart-ments, which make up the library’s Special Collections Division.
I hope you will enjoy this issue, which was edited by Library Fellow David Hisle. David spent four fruitful months of his 2008-2009 fellowship in the Special Collections Department. The articles he solicited demonstrate the Spe-cial Collections Division’s solid progress in acquiring important collections and in making them available to poten-tial users worldwide. Through such outreach efforts as digitization, exhibits, and programs to encourage students and other researchers to use the division’s rich collections, our dedicated staff work hard to promote a better under-standing of the past. Please visit soon—online or in our beautiful reading rooms—and begin your own search for treasure.
--Maury York
A Message from the Assistant Director PAGE 2
PIRATE’S TREASURE
EXHIBIT CELEBRATES THE LIFE AND CAREER OF D. D. GARRETT
On October 23, 2008, Joyner Library and the African and African American Studies Program at East Carolina University hosted a reception and exhibit opening for ―Patience, Persistence, and Political Participation: the Life and Career of D. D. Garrett.‖ The 93-year-old Garrett is one of Pitt County's most respected business and civic leaders. Long a leader in the area’s African American community, Garrett set up business in Greenville in 1946, offering insur-ance, real estate and notary services. His leadership soon extended well beyond business. He encouraged black political participation by running for office. He first stood for election as alderman in 1949 and ran repeatedly before finally being elected county commissioner in 1988. As a fre-quent volunteer on area commissions and as a long-serving president of the local chapter of the NAACP, Garrett worked tirelessly to improve the position of African Americans in his community. His efforts helped to integrate area businesses, schools, neighborhoods, and services.
The reception in Joyner Library was attended by a large and enthusiastic crowd of Mr. Garrett's admirers, including two state legislators, Greenville's mayor pro tem, and visitors from several states. Those in attendance enjoyed the introduction of John Lawrence, Dr. David Dennard's sketch of Mr. Garrett's life, and Mr. Garrett's own touching remarks. Attendees also perused the excellent exhibit mounted by Fred Harrison and John Lawrence with the key assistance of Dr. Dennard. Arrangements for the event were supported by Dr. Larry Boyer, Dawn Wainwright, and Blythe Tennent and the staff of Building Operations. The exhibit was mounted in the Verona Joyner Langford North Carolina Collection from September 15 through January 19, and enjoyed visits from several large groups over two semesters.
-John Lawrence
A 1950 portrait of D. D. Garrett.
A poster from Garrett’s 1949 campaign for alderman.
The Special Collections Department recently developed a Research Travel Award Program to assist students, faculty members, and independent researchers in traveling to Greenville to utilize holdings of the department. Applicants may apply for up to $1,000 to defray the cost of travel and housing to use collections that are closely aligned to the topics of their research. Each year, a committee will give two awards of up to $500 or one award of up to $1,000. To be eligible, researchers must live beyond a fifty-mile radius of Greenville. Employees of East Carolina University are ineligible to apply for an award. The award program is made possible by a generous donation by Professor and Mrs. Ralph Lee Scott of Greenville.
Guidelines for the program and an online application form are available on the Special Collections Department’s website: http://media.lib.ecu.edu/spclcoll/travelAward/.
-Maury York
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT RESEARCH TRAVEL AWARDS PROGRAM VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
PAGE 3
In June of 2008 Joyner Library was awarded a two-year NC ECHO digitiza-tion grant. The first year amount awarded was $35,715. These grants are provided via the State Library of North Carolina through the Library Ser-vices and Technology Act (LSTA). Our project, entitled ―Seeds of Change: the Evolution of Post-War Eastern North Carolina,‖ will build on the cur-rent East Carolina University (ECU) Joyner Library digital collections (http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/) by mounting images from The Daily Reflector Negative Collection (1949-1967). This image collection was donated to Joyner Library’s Special Collections Department by the Daily Reflector, a Greenville, North Carolina-based newspaper. This collection contains im-ages taken by the Daily Reflector between 1949 and 1967 and represents a period of dramatic social and economic change in eastern North Carolina.
The primary audience for the online collection will be historians, researchers, and students (both university level and K-12). The project will create an appealing, accessible, and historically significant collection of images that record notable social and economic transitions of this dynamic historic pe-riod. The collection will not only present images with full description, but it will also provide rich context through historical summaries and references that link the images to local and national trends. Finally, the project will contain an educational/promotional component designed to expose this resource to researchers, librarians and instructors. The planned official launch of the project’s website is set for September 2009.
Project personnel include Dale Sauter (Project Director), Christopher Oakley (Project Historian), Gretchen Gueguen (Digital Initiatives Li-brarian) and Patricia Dragon (Special Collections Cataloger). The grant committee consists of the previously mentioned individuals, as well as Cynthia Adams, Joe Barricella, Mark Custer, Michael Reece, Linda Teel, Blythe Tennent, Hazel Walker, Beth Winstead, and Maury York.
-Dale Sauter
SEEDS OF CHANGE SPOTLIGHTS POST-WAR EASTERN N.C.
10,000th ENTRY ADDED TO NORTH CAROLINA PERIODICALS INDEX
What is the ―Moonshine Mecca‖ of North Carolina? Want to learn more about the famed Confederate ironclad the Neuse? The answer to these questions and many others can be found in the North Carolina Periodicals Index, a premiere information resource for North Carolina.
Ably edited by Barry Munson, the NCPI covers all forms of North Carolina periodicals, from that old chestnut Our State to the hip Research Triangle weekly, The Independent. Just a few months ago, the NCPI reached quite a milestone, its 10,000th abstract! Now, patrons will have more information at their fingertips to dig into North Carolina history. Also, some of the articles are now available in full-text, so access is only a click away. Remember, though, that all of the articles in the NCPI are available in print in the North Carolina Collection. The NCPI is available at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/scope.cfm.
And the ―Moonshine Mecca‖ of North Carolina? Dare County was the place to be during Prohibition.
-Erik Estep
Officers H. B. Lilly, J. M. Ward and W.M. Taylor in the back of a truck, with 122 gallons of bootleg liquor, that led the officers on a high-speed chase. Image taken from the Daily Reflector Negative Collection. View this image and thousands more at the all-new Digital Collections portal at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/.
A woman hangs tobacco leaves off the side of the new mechanical tobacco harvester. Image taken from the Daily Reflector Image Collection, June 26, 1954. Confederate Correspondent: The Civil War Reports of Jacob Na-thaniel Raymer, 4th North Carolina, edited by E. B. Munson and published by McFarland Publishing Company.
Soon after North Carolina seceded from the Union in May 1861, Jacob Nathaniel Raymer enlisted in the Confederate Army. A young man with a talent for writing and a keen observer, he had pledged to keep those back home informed of the movements of Company C and the Fourth Regiment and faithfully wrote letters to the Carolina Watchman (Salisbury) and the Iredell Express (Statesville). He would be witness to some of the war’s greatest battles—Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and the final surrender at Appomattox. The collection is tran-scribed primarily from the two newspapers and is complemented by narratives that place the letters within the Fourth Regiment’s move-ments. Raymer’s postwar experience is also documented through his personal correspondence and surviving diary entries.
Unlike other contemporary correspondence, rather than being di-rected to an individual or family, Nat’s letters were intended for the broader audience of area newspaper readers and portrayed the dog-ged determination of the Southern soldiers in a descriptive style that brought the war and its harsh realities home to his readers.
Letters depict the war as seen by the men who en-dured the tedium of camp life, the terror of the bat-tlefield, the long tiring marches, and the lack of clothing and rations. His letters let friends and fam-ily members back home know how their boys in the 4th were doing, where they had traveled, what they had seen, the health of the regiment, and what the Yankees were up to. For today’s readers, Nat’s let-ters are a primary source of information about the Civil War; for his descen-dants, they are a window through which they may glimpse an ancestor in a time of war.
-Matt Reynolds
NCC STAFF MEMBER PRODUCES NEW BOOK
PIRATE’S TREASURE
PAGE 4
Cover of E. B. Munson’s new book.
NEW WEB-BASED TUTORIALS INTRODUCED
This January, Special Collections and the North Carolina Collection were pleased to introduce two new web-based tutorials for our fledgling student researchers. Created by North Carolina Collection librarian Matt Reynolds and Joyner Fellow David Hisle, these tutorials supple-ment the bibliographic instruction given to university freshmen as they complete their ―artifact‖ project. The artifact assignment asks fresh-men English students to locate an object from Special Collections or the North Carolina Collection and to describe the item within its his-torical context. This hugely successful program brings hundreds of English 1200 students into the North Carolina Collection and Special Collections each spring. The tutorials are comprised of several modules introducing students to the respective collections, along with basic research strategies to get them started.
The Explore NCC Online Tutorial provides instruction on the department’s holdings, along with how to locate North Carolina resources in the library cata-log, how to access and navigate the North Carolina Periodicals Index, and how to use the clipping and vertical files. Newsbank: North Carolina Newspapers and North Carolina newspapers on microfilm are also treated.
The Special Collections Tutorial provides an overview of and introduction to the five major collections housed in the Special Collections Department. Exam-ples pulled from each collection give student researchers a sense of what the collections contain. Instruction is also given on the policies that govern the collection’s use, how to navigate the print and online finding aids, and how to request materials from the staff.
Both tutorials are now available online with optional closed captioning. The Explore NCC Online Tutorial can be found at https://author.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/ncctutorials.cfm, while the Special Collections Tutorial is located at http://media.lib.ecu.edu/spclcoll/quiz/sctutorials.cfm.
Homepage for the new Special Collections online tutorial. RECENT ACQUISITIONS IN THE EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION & RARE BOOK COLLECTION
Page 5
David Balcombe Papers (1914-1918) of British soldier from Surrey, England, who was serving in the 4th Queens and Royal Flying Corps in India and Egypt during World War I. 138 items. 413 p. (ca. 0.50 c.f.) Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino, Philadelphia, November 2008.
Edward L. Williams Diary (1874-1875) kept by U.S. Marine serving aboard the U.S.S. Alaska during service in the European Station. 1 item. 219 p. (ca. 0.25 c.f.) Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino, Philadelphia, December 2008.
Eric G. Flannagan and Sons Records (ca. 1924-1945) including architectural plans and records pertaining to schools and other public and private buildings in Greenville, Halifax County, and Perquimans County, N.C. and one wall map, Map of the County of Halifax, North Carolina, 1914-1915. 3 rolls of drawings, 1 map, (8.0 c.f.). Gift of Stephen G. Flannagan, Henderson, N.C., December 2008.
Frank W. Davis, Sr. Papers (1876-1955, undated) of a leading African American businessman in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina. 2 boxes & 1 oversized folder. 131 items. 678 p. (0.83 c.f.) Gift of Mrs. Josie Davis, Rocky Mount, N.C., August 2007.
James Phillip Keel Collection (1945-1946)
relating to the family, military training, and service of Private – Staff Sgt. James Philip Keel during World War II. 2 boxes & 1 oversized folder. 527 items. 807 p. (ca. 0.83 c.f.) Gift of Philip W., Richard C., and Walter M. Keel, Robersonville, N.C., June 2008.
Knights of Pythias, North Carolina Grand Lodge Records (1873-2006) of fraternal order, including membership and financial records of local lodges and annual reports. (ca. 20.0 c.f.) Gift of the Grand Lodge, Domain of North Carolina, Knights of Pythias, December 2008.
Lady Flora Commonplace Book (1816) of surgeon G. Harris kept onboard the East India Company ship Lady Flora. 1 volume. 100 p. (ca. 0.10 c.f.) Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2008.
Mappa Aestivarum Insularum alias Barmudas dictarum [Map of the Summer Islands, alias the Bermudas, lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, latitude 32 degrees 25 minutes from London, England . . . accurately described.] Amsterdam: Hendrik Hondius, 1633? 1 item. 1 p. (ca. 0.007 c.f.) Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2007.
Minges Collection. Photographs, ephemera, and research notes (1890-1992) pertaining to the development of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company and other bottling enterprises owned by the Minges Family in New Bern and Greenville. (6.0 c.f.) Gift of Mr. Jeffery M. Minges, Ayden, N.C., October 2008.
Roanoke Island Baptist Church Records (1888-1995, undated) of Roanoke Island Baptist Church. 1 box. 21 items. (ca. 0.25 c.f.). Gift of Roanoke Island Baptist Church, February 2008.
Sara Holt Arthur Collection (1816-1899, undated) relates to William D. Holt and his family, of Johnston County, North Carolina. 3 boxes & 1 oversized folder. 320 items. 787 p. (ca. 0.76 c.f.) Gift of Mrs. Sara Holt
Arthur, Princeton, N.C., October 2008.
U.S.S. INDEPENDENCE Collection (7/3 – 11/15/1815) Journal of a Cruise in the U. S. S. INDEPENDENCE, kept by one of the ship’s officers. 2 items. 91 p. (ca. 0.03 c.f.) Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2007.
William Blount Rodman Papers (Addition 3) Physiology and Hygiene Notebook of William B. Rodman Jr. at the University of North Carolina (January 7 – March 25, 1880) 1 item. 76 p. (ca. 0.10 c.f.) Purchased from Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, N.C., August 2008.
Winslow-Towe Family Papers (1886-2003, undated) of the Winslow family of Winfall, North Carolina & the Towe family of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. 2 boxes. 167 items. 617 p. (1.0 c.f.) Gift of Mrs. Millicent Nash, Virginia Beach, Va., July 2008.
Atkins, John. A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West-Indies; in His Majesty’s Ships the Swallow and Weymouth…. London: Printed for Ward and Chandler, 1737. Purchased from William Reese Company, New Haven, Conn., December 2008.
Exquemelin, Alexandre Olivier. The History of the Bucaniers of America; from the First Original Down to This Time; Written in Several Languages and Now Collected into One Volume. London: Newborough, Nicholson and Tocke, 1704. Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Glouscester, Mass., October 2008.
Smith, Aaron. The Atrocities of the Pirates; being a Faithful Narrative of the Unparalleled Sufferings Endured by the Author during His Captivity among the Pirates of the Island of Cuba; with an Account of the Excesses and Barbarities of Those Inhuman Freebooters…. London: For G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1824. Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2008.
Since December 2007, the East Carolina Manuscript Collection has accessioned 44 new collections or additions to existing col-lections. By volume this amounts to about 62.1 cubic feet of manuscript materials or 19,408 individual document sheets. The Rare Book Collection has also purchased and accessioned three significant works.
For access to these and other interesting re-cent acquisitions, please contact the Special Collections Department at (252) 328-6671, or visit the departmental website at: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/spclcoll/.
Rare Book Collection
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
Selected East Carolina Manu-script Collection Acquisitions Page 6
FEATURED IMAGE
PIRATE’S TREASURE
As the spring semester advances, graduation may seem in the distant future, but students will turn their tassels and join the ranks of ECU alumni. While plans have not been announced for the 101st commencement speaker, there is no doubt that this will be a memorable day for the graduates and their family and friends. The University Archives strives to record every event of note on campus. There are many records related to graduation, such as commencement programs and numerous photographs. One very special record we have is a 16mm film of the 1963 commencement speech. The speaker, pictured here in frames scanned from the film, was Edward R. Murrow.
Murrow was a native son of North Carolina, having been born in Guildford County. He had an illustrious career in broadcast jour-nalism, and went on to be appointed head of the United States In-formation Agency. The Voice of America, part of the USIA, has a large presence in Pitt County. In 1963, the VoA had just begun broadcasting and receiving in Pitt County at three sites [http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/fullview.aspx?id=voa, accessed 2 Feb 2009], so that may have prompted ECU to invite Mr. Murrow to speak.
On the subject of the speech, please note the wavering pattern to the right of the image. That is an optical sound track, probably ap-plause, given the regular pattern. We were very excited to locate this item during a survey of media in the Archives, but have yet to be able to project the film and listen to the speech. Film projectors are aging along with films, and at this time Special Collections does not have a projector that we would trust with such a unique and valuable item. Written records of the speech exist, so once funds have been secured to transfer this item properly, we can compare the text with the words as they were spoken.
Those interested in this film, or any other media, are welcome to contact the University Archives for further information.
-L.K. Gypsye Legge
Edward R. Murrow giving a commencement speech in 1963. This image and many more are available via the new Digital Collections portal at: http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/.
SCHLOBIN COLLECTION ASSISTS LEADING DICTIONARY
When the editors of a certain eminent dictionary began researching the first usage of the word ―Bio-weapons,‖ their search led them to a 1975 second edition of H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking, which included this sentence: ―Bio-weapons; a man-made plague that had gotten out of control and all but depopulated the planet.‖ The only copy of the 1963 first edition of the book that the diction-ary’s editors could locate was in the Special Collection Department’s Schlobin Literature of the Fantastic Collection. The editors queried Schlobin Curator Ralph Scott to see if the term had appeared in the first edition of the book, or had only been added to later editions. If 1963’s Space Viking included the term, the dictionary editors could place the earliest usage of ―bio-weapons‖ back another twelve years. The 1975 second edition had the term on page 48, so Schlobin Curator Ralph Scott looked in the original edition on page 48. The word was not there.
The dictionary editors alerted curator Scott to a 2008 reprint of the 1975 edition available at www.books.google.com. A search of that site led Scott to the section of Space Viking where the word was used. Following along from the beginning of the chapter (which had been re-numbered in the second 1975 edition), Scott discovered ―bio-weapons‖ on page 57 of the original 1963 edi-tion.
Thus Special Collections was able to assist the editors in their search for the first use of the term ―Bio-weapon.‖ DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ANNOUNCES ALL-NEW PORTAL
Joyner Library is pleased to announce the launch of its all-new Digital Collections portal. (http://digital.lib.ecu.edu). The site offers a one-stop-shop for finding the library’s special collections online. Materials from across the holdings of the library are selected for digi-tal conversion — scanning, photographing, or converting audio and video recordings to digital versions. Then these materials are added to our growing website.
Historical items from the University Archives, manuscripts, photographs, rare books, and maps are all featured along with many other types of materials. Prior to the launch of this site, the only access to these items was through the use of the library's Special Collections Department Reading Room. With the new Digital Collections portal, you can find and use these items anytime and from any place.
The items in the website at present focus on several major themes and collections including:
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
PAGE 7
Child holding out an alligator he found, June 10, 1960. This photo-graph and more can be found in the Daily Reflector Negative Collec-tion on the all-new Digital Collections portal at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu. African American history Agriculture Fine and performing arts Postcards of eastern North Carolina Letters from the Civil War in the Robert B. Caldwell Collection Naval and maritime history Military history The development of transportation, manufacturing, and municipal works in eastern North Carolina The history of East Carolina University
You can try simple or advanced searches, browse through collec-tions, or use the subject cloud to discover items you may not have known the library owned. Each record allows you to comment on or tag items, so you can also make your own mark on our collec-tions.
Sound recordings from the Centennial Oral History collection are the most recent major addition. These interviews relate the experi-ences of ECU alumni who were the first in their families to attend college. The collection was created in honor of ECU's Centennial year, and its release coincided with a public program on March 26 to honor the twenty interviewees who participated in the project. Over the coming months, Digital Collections will add more and more material to its site.
--Michael Reece SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION
J. Y. Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, N.C. 27858-4353
Individuals requesting accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should contact the Department
For Disability Support Services at least forty-eight hours prior to visiting at 252.737.1016 (Voice/TTY).
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT
Phone: 252.328.6671 Fax: 252.328.0268
Email: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/Reference/email.cfm
Visit us on the Web at http://www.ecu.edu/lib/spclcoll/
NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION
Phone: 252.328.6601 Fax: 252.328.0868
Email: nccollection@ecu.edu
Visit us on the Web at http://www.ecu.edu/lib/ncc/

MAJOR EXHIBIT TRACES CAREER OF A. R. AMMONS
A major exhibit on display in the Special Collections Department through June 30, 2009, traces the career of North Carolina-born poet A. R. ―Archie‖ Ammons. Drawn from the A. R. Ammons Papers, which were donated in 2007 by M. Reid and Susan W. Overcash of Raleigh, the exhibit contains manuscript and typescript poems, Ammons’s notebooks, an account of the poet’s meeting with William Carlos Williams in 1960, photographs, published works, and original watercolors painted by Ammons between 1977 and 1980. Among these is a haunting self-portrait.
Ammons (1926-2001) grew up near Whiteville, North Carolina, and attended Wake Forest College and the University of California, Berkeley. He taught poetry for many years in the Department of English at Cornell University. His poems, many of which reflect his rural roots in southeastern North Carolina, earned Ammons international acclaim. These appeared in such books as Collected Poems, 1951-1971; Garbage; Sphere: The Form of a Motion; and A Coast of Trees: Poems. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Book Award, the
Frost Medal given by the Poetry Society of America, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Tanning Prize.
Curated by Professor Jonathan Dembo, the exhibit is accompanied by a full-color catalog, A. R. Ammons’s Poetry and Art: A Documentary Exhibit. Copies of the catalog may be requested by calling Ms. Nanette Hardison at (252) 328-0404. The exhibit may be viewed during regular hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
-Maury York
INSIDE
THIS
ISSUE:
EXHIBIT CELEBRATES THE LIFE AND CAREER OF D. D. GARRETT ...............................2
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT RESEARCH TRAVEL AWARDS PROGRAM .......2
SEEDS OF CHANGE SPOTLIGHTS POST-WAR EASTERN N.C..................................3
10,000th ENTRY ADDED TO NORTH CAROLINA PERIODICALS INDEX ………..........3
NCC STAFF MEMBER PRODUCES NEW BOOK ................4
NEW WEB-BASED TUTORIALS INTRODUCED .................................4
RECENT ACQUISITIONS................5
FEATURED IMAGE .........................6
SCHLOBIN COLLECTION ASSISTS LEADING DICTIONARY ...................................6
DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ANNOUNCES ALL-NEW PORTAL............................................7
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT HOURS
MONDAY-FRIDAY 8:00am - 5:00pm SATURDAY-SUNDAY 1:00pm - 5:00pm
NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION HOURS
MONDAY-THURSDAY 8:00am -10:00pm FRIDAY 8:00am - 6:00pm SATURDAY 10:00am - 6:00pm SUNDAY 1:00pm - 10:00pm
For closing dates, please consult the departments’ websites. Contact information is available on back page.
Ammons’s self-portrait currently on display in the Special Collections Department.
Pirate’s Treasure has a new focus! Joyner Library’s Special Collections Department began this newsletter in 2006 to publicize the department’s holdings, services, and initiatives. The next year, a task force appointed by Dean Larry Boyer led staff throughout Joyner Library in re-visioning the organization. Following one of the recommendations of the task force, Dean Boyer brought together Digital Collections, the Special Collections Department, and the Verona Joyner Langford North Carolina Collection under the direction of the Assistant Director for Special Col-lections. As a result of this change, Pirate’s Treasure will report news of all three of these closely aligned depart-ments, which make up the library’s Special Collections Division.
I hope you will enjoy this issue, which was edited by Library Fellow David Hisle. David spent four fruitful months of his 2008-2009 fellowship in the Special Collections Department. The articles he solicited demonstrate the Spe-cial Collections Division’s solid progress in acquiring important collections and in making them available to poten-tial users worldwide. Through such outreach efforts as digitization, exhibits, and programs to encourage students and other researchers to use the division’s rich collections, our dedicated staff work hard to promote a better under-standing of the past. Please visit soon—online or in our beautiful reading rooms—and begin your own search for treasure.
--Maury York
A Message from the Assistant Director PAGE 2
PIRATE’S TREASURE
EXHIBIT CELEBRATES THE LIFE AND CAREER OF D. D. GARRETT
On October 23, 2008, Joyner Library and the African and African American Studies Program at East Carolina University hosted a reception and exhibit opening for ―Patience, Persistence, and Political Participation: the Life and Career of D. D. Garrett.‖ The 93-year-old Garrett is one of Pitt County's most respected business and civic leaders. Long a leader in the area’s African American community, Garrett set up business in Greenville in 1946, offering insur-ance, real estate and notary services. His leadership soon extended well beyond business. He encouraged black political participation by running for office. He first stood for election as alderman in 1949 and ran repeatedly before finally being elected county commissioner in 1988. As a fre-quent volunteer on area commissions and as a long-serving president of the local chapter of the NAACP, Garrett worked tirelessly to improve the position of African Americans in his community. His efforts helped to integrate area businesses, schools, neighborhoods, and services.
The reception in Joyner Library was attended by a large and enthusiastic crowd of Mr. Garrett's admirers, including two state legislators, Greenville's mayor pro tem, and visitors from several states. Those in attendance enjoyed the introduction of John Lawrence, Dr. David Dennard's sketch of Mr. Garrett's life, and Mr. Garrett's own touching remarks. Attendees also perused the excellent exhibit mounted by Fred Harrison and John Lawrence with the key assistance of Dr. Dennard. Arrangements for the event were supported by Dr. Larry Boyer, Dawn Wainwright, and Blythe Tennent and the staff of Building Operations. The exhibit was mounted in the Verona Joyner Langford North Carolina Collection from September 15 through January 19, and enjoyed visits from several large groups over two semesters.
-John Lawrence
A 1950 portrait of D. D. Garrett.
A poster from Garrett’s 1949 campaign for alderman.
The Special Collections Department recently developed a Research Travel Award Program to assist students, faculty members, and independent researchers in traveling to Greenville to utilize holdings of the department. Applicants may apply for up to $1,000 to defray the cost of travel and housing to use collections that are closely aligned to the topics of their research. Each year, a committee will give two awards of up to $500 or one award of up to $1,000. To be eligible, researchers must live beyond a fifty-mile radius of Greenville. Employees of East Carolina University are ineligible to apply for an award. The award program is made possible by a generous donation by Professor and Mrs. Ralph Lee Scott of Greenville.
Guidelines for the program and an online application form are available on the Special Collections Department’s website: http://media.lib.ecu.edu/spclcoll/travelAward/.
-Maury York
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT RESEARCH TRAVEL AWARDS PROGRAM VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
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In June of 2008 Joyner Library was awarded a two-year NC ECHO digitiza-tion grant. The first year amount awarded was $35,715. These grants are provided via the State Library of North Carolina through the Library Ser-vices and Technology Act (LSTA). Our project, entitled ―Seeds of Change: the Evolution of Post-War Eastern North Carolina,‖ will build on the cur-rent East Carolina University (ECU) Joyner Library digital collections (http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/) by mounting images from The Daily Reflector Negative Collection (1949-1967). This image collection was donated to Joyner Library’s Special Collections Department by the Daily Reflector, a Greenville, North Carolina-based newspaper. This collection contains im-ages taken by the Daily Reflector between 1949 and 1967 and represents a period of dramatic social and economic change in eastern North Carolina.
The primary audience for the online collection will be historians, researchers, and students (both university level and K-12). The project will create an appealing, accessible, and historically significant collection of images that record notable social and economic transitions of this dynamic historic pe-riod. The collection will not only present images with full description, but it will also provide rich context through historical summaries and references that link the images to local and national trends. Finally, the project will contain an educational/promotional component designed to expose this resource to researchers, librarians and instructors. The planned official launch of the project’s website is set for September 2009.
Project personnel include Dale Sauter (Project Director), Christopher Oakley (Project Historian), Gretchen Gueguen (Digital Initiatives Li-brarian) and Patricia Dragon (Special Collections Cataloger). The grant committee consists of the previously mentioned individuals, as well as Cynthia Adams, Joe Barricella, Mark Custer, Michael Reece, Linda Teel, Blythe Tennent, Hazel Walker, Beth Winstead, and Maury York.
-Dale Sauter
SEEDS OF CHANGE SPOTLIGHTS POST-WAR EASTERN N.C.
10,000th ENTRY ADDED TO NORTH CAROLINA PERIODICALS INDEX
What is the ―Moonshine Mecca‖ of North Carolina? Want to learn more about the famed Confederate ironclad the Neuse? The answer to these questions and many others can be found in the North Carolina Periodicals Index, a premiere information resource for North Carolina.
Ably edited by Barry Munson, the NCPI covers all forms of North Carolina periodicals, from that old chestnut Our State to the hip Research Triangle weekly, The Independent. Just a few months ago, the NCPI reached quite a milestone, its 10,000th abstract! Now, patrons will have more information at their fingertips to dig into North Carolina history. Also, some of the articles are now available in full-text, so access is only a click away. Remember, though, that all of the articles in the NCPI are available in print in the North Carolina Collection. The NCPI is available at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/scope.cfm.
And the ―Moonshine Mecca‖ of North Carolina? Dare County was the place to be during Prohibition.
-Erik Estep
Officers H. B. Lilly, J. M. Ward and W.M. Taylor in the back of a truck, with 122 gallons of bootleg liquor, that led the officers on a high-speed chase. Image taken from the Daily Reflector Negative Collection. View this image and thousands more at the all-new Digital Collections portal at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/.
A woman hangs tobacco leaves off the side of the new mechanical tobacco harvester. Image taken from the Daily Reflector Image Collection, June 26, 1954. Confederate Correspondent: The Civil War Reports of Jacob Na-thaniel Raymer, 4th North Carolina, edited by E. B. Munson and published by McFarland Publishing Company.
Soon after North Carolina seceded from the Union in May 1861, Jacob Nathaniel Raymer enlisted in the Confederate Army. A young man with a talent for writing and a keen observer, he had pledged to keep those back home informed of the movements of Company C and the Fourth Regiment and faithfully wrote letters to the Carolina Watchman (Salisbury) and the Iredell Express (Statesville). He would be witness to some of the war’s greatest battles—Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and the final surrender at Appomattox. The collection is tran-scribed primarily from the two newspapers and is complemented by narratives that place the letters within the Fourth Regiment’s move-ments. Raymer’s postwar experience is also documented through his personal correspondence and surviving diary entries.
Unlike other contemporary correspondence, rather than being di-rected to an individual or family, Nat’s letters were intended for the broader audience of area newspaper readers and portrayed the dog-ged determination of the Southern soldiers in a descriptive style that brought the war and its harsh realities home to his readers.
Letters depict the war as seen by the men who en-dured the tedium of camp life, the terror of the bat-tlefield, the long tiring marches, and the lack of clothing and rations. His letters let friends and fam-ily members back home know how their boys in the 4th were doing, where they had traveled, what they had seen, the health of the regiment, and what the Yankees were up to. For today’s readers, Nat’s let-ters are a primary source of information about the Civil War; for his descen-dants, they are a window through which they may glimpse an ancestor in a time of war.
-Matt Reynolds
NCC STAFF MEMBER PRODUCES NEW BOOK
PIRATE’S TREASURE
PAGE 4
Cover of E. B. Munson’s new book.
NEW WEB-BASED TUTORIALS INTRODUCED
This January, Special Collections and the North Carolina Collection were pleased to introduce two new web-based tutorials for our fledgling student researchers. Created by North Carolina Collection librarian Matt Reynolds and Joyner Fellow David Hisle, these tutorials supple-ment the bibliographic instruction given to university freshmen as they complete their ―artifact‖ project. The artifact assignment asks fresh-men English students to locate an object from Special Collections or the North Carolina Collection and to describe the item within its his-torical context. This hugely successful program brings hundreds of English 1200 students into the North Carolina Collection and Special Collections each spring. The tutorials are comprised of several modules introducing students to the respective collections, along with basic research strategies to get them started.
The Explore NCC Online Tutorial provides instruction on the department’s holdings, along with how to locate North Carolina resources in the library cata-log, how to access and navigate the North Carolina Periodicals Index, and how to use the clipping and vertical files. Newsbank: North Carolina Newspapers and North Carolina newspapers on microfilm are also treated.
The Special Collections Tutorial provides an overview of and introduction to the five major collections housed in the Special Collections Department. Exam-ples pulled from each collection give student researchers a sense of what the collections contain. Instruction is also given on the policies that govern the collection’s use, how to navigate the print and online finding aids, and how to request materials from the staff.
Both tutorials are now available online with optional closed captioning. The Explore NCC Online Tutorial can be found at https://author.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/ncctutorials.cfm, while the Special Collections Tutorial is located at http://media.lib.ecu.edu/spclcoll/quiz/sctutorials.cfm.
Homepage for the new Special Collections online tutorial. RECENT ACQUISITIONS IN THE EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION & RARE BOOK COLLECTION
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David Balcombe Papers (1914-1918) of British soldier from Surrey, England, who was serving in the 4th Queens and Royal Flying Corps in India and Egypt during World War I. 138 items. 413 p. (ca. 0.50 c.f.) Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino, Philadelphia, November 2008.
Edward L. Williams Diary (1874-1875) kept by U.S. Marine serving aboard the U.S.S. Alaska during service in the European Station. 1 item. 219 p. (ca. 0.25 c.f.) Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino, Philadelphia, December 2008.
Eric G. Flannagan and Sons Records (ca. 1924-1945) including architectural plans and records pertaining to schools and other public and private buildings in Greenville, Halifax County, and Perquimans County, N.C. and one wall map, Map of the County of Halifax, North Carolina, 1914-1915. 3 rolls of drawings, 1 map, (8.0 c.f.). Gift of Stephen G. Flannagan, Henderson, N.C., December 2008.
Frank W. Davis, Sr. Papers (1876-1955, undated) of a leading African American businessman in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina. 2 boxes & 1 oversized folder. 131 items. 678 p. (0.83 c.f.) Gift of Mrs. Josie Davis, Rocky Mount, N.C., August 2007.
James Phillip Keel Collection (1945-1946)
relating to the family, military training, and service of Private – Staff Sgt. James Philip Keel during World War II. 2 boxes & 1 oversized folder. 527 items. 807 p. (ca. 0.83 c.f.) Gift of Philip W., Richard C., and Walter M. Keel, Robersonville, N.C., June 2008.
Knights of Pythias, North Carolina Grand Lodge Records (1873-2006) of fraternal order, including membership and financial records of local lodges and annual reports. (ca. 20.0 c.f.) Gift of the Grand Lodge, Domain of North Carolina, Knights of Pythias, December 2008.
Lady Flora Commonplace Book (1816) of surgeon G. Harris kept onboard the East India Company ship Lady Flora. 1 volume. 100 p. (ca. 0.10 c.f.) Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2008.
Mappa Aestivarum Insularum alias Barmudas dictarum [Map of the Summer Islands, alias the Bermudas, lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, latitude 32 degrees 25 minutes from London, England . . . accurately described.] Amsterdam: Hendrik Hondius, 1633? 1 item. 1 p. (ca. 0.007 c.f.) Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2007.
Minges Collection. Photographs, ephemera, and research notes (1890-1992) pertaining to the development of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company and other bottling enterprises owned by the Minges Family in New Bern and Greenville. (6.0 c.f.) Gift of Mr. Jeffery M. Minges, Ayden, N.C., October 2008.
Roanoke Island Baptist Church Records (1888-1995, undated) of Roanoke Island Baptist Church. 1 box. 21 items. (ca. 0.25 c.f.). Gift of Roanoke Island Baptist Church, February 2008.
Sara Holt Arthur Collection (1816-1899, undated) relates to William D. Holt and his family, of Johnston County, North Carolina. 3 boxes & 1 oversized folder. 320 items. 787 p. (ca. 0.76 c.f.) Gift of Mrs. Sara Holt
Arthur, Princeton, N.C., October 2008.
U.S.S. INDEPENDENCE Collection (7/3 – 11/15/1815) Journal of a Cruise in the U. S. S. INDEPENDENCE, kept by one of the ship’s officers. 2 items. 91 p. (ca. 0.03 c.f.) Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2007.
William Blount Rodman Papers (Addition 3) Physiology and Hygiene Notebook of William B. Rodman Jr. at the University of North Carolina (January 7 – March 25, 1880) 1 item. 76 p. (ca. 0.10 c.f.) Purchased from Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, N.C., August 2008.
Winslow-Towe Family Papers (1886-2003, undated) of the Winslow family of Winfall, North Carolina & the Towe family of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. 2 boxes. 167 items. 617 p. (1.0 c.f.) Gift of Mrs. Millicent Nash, Virginia Beach, Va., July 2008.
Atkins, John. A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West-Indies; in His Majesty’s Ships the Swallow and Weymouth…. London: Printed for Ward and Chandler, 1737. Purchased from William Reese Company, New Haven, Conn., December 2008.
Exquemelin, Alexandre Olivier. The History of the Bucaniers of America; from the First Original Down to This Time; Written in Several Languages and Now Collected into One Volume. London: Newborough, Nicholson and Tocke, 1704. Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Glouscester, Mass., October 2008.
Smith, Aaron. The Atrocities of the Pirates; being a Faithful Narrative of the Unparalleled Sufferings Endured by the Author during His Captivity among the Pirates of the Island of Cuba; with an Account of the Excesses and Barbarities of Those Inhuman Freebooters…. London: For G. and W. B. Whittaker, 1824. Purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, Gloucester, Mass., December 2008.
Since December 2007, the East Carolina Manuscript Collection has accessioned 44 new collections or additions to existing col-lections. By volume this amounts to about 62.1 cubic feet of manuscript materials or 19,408 individual document sheets. The Rare Book Collection has also purchased and accessioned three significant works.
For access to these and other interesting re-cent acquisitions, please contact the Special Collections Department at (252) 328-6671, or visit the departmental website at: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/spclcoll/.
Rare Book Collection
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
Selected East Carolina Manu-script Collection Acquisitions Page 6
FEATURED IMAGE
PIRATE’S TREASURE
As the spring semester advances, graduation may seem in the distant future, but students will turn their tassels and join the ranks of ECU alumni. While plans have not been announced for the 101st commencement speaker, there is no doubt that this will be a memorable day for the graduates and their family and friends. The University Archives strives to record every event of note on campus. There are many records related to graduation, such as commencement programs and numerous photographs. One very special record we have is a 16mm film of the 1963 commencement speech. The speaker, pictured here in frames scanned from the film, was Edward R. Murrow.
Murrow was a native son of North Carolina, having been born in Guildford County. He had an illustrious career in broadcast jour-nalism, and went on to be appointed head of the United States In-formation Agency. The Voice of America, part of the USIA, has a large presence in Pitt County. In 1963, the VoA had just begun broadcasting and receiving in Pitt County at three sites [http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/fullview.aspx?id=voa, accessed 2 Feb 2009], so that may have prompted ECU to invite Mr. Murrow to speak.
On the subject of the speech, please note the wavering pattern to the right of the image. That is an optical sound track, probably ap-plause, given the regular pattern. We were very excited to locate this item during a survey of media in the Archives, but have yet to be able to project the film and listen to the speech. Film projectors are aging along with films, and at this time Special Collections does not have a projector that we would trust with such a unique and valuable item. Written records of the speech exist, so once funds have been secured to transfer this item properly, we can compare the text with the words as they were spoken.
Those interested in this film, or any other media, are welcome to contact the University Archives for further information.
-L.K. Gypsye Legge
Edward R. Murrow giving a commencement speech in 1963. This image and many more are available via the new Digital Collections portal at: http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/.
SCHLOBIN COLLECTION ASSISTS LEADING DICTIONARY
When the editors of a certain eminent dictionary began researching the first usage of the word ―Bio-weapons,‖ their search led them to a 1975 second edition of H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking, which included this sentence: ―Bio-weapons; a man-made plague that had gotten out of control and all but depopulated the planet.‖ The only copy of the 1963 first edition of the book that the diction-ary’s editors could locate was in the Special Collection Department’s Schlobin Literature of the Fantastic Collection. The editors queried Schlobin Curator Ralph Scott to see if the term had appeared in the first edition of the book, or had only been added to later editions. If 1963’s Space Viking included the term, the dictionary editors could place the earliest usage of ―bio-weapons‖ back another twelve years. The 1975 second edition had the term on page 48, so Schlobin Curator Ralph Scott looked in the original edition on page 48. The word was not there.
The dictionary editors alerted curator Scott to a 2008 reprint of the 1975 edition available at www.books.google.com. A search of that site led Scott to the section of Space Viking where the word was used. Following along from the beginning of the chapter (which had been re-numbered in the second 1975 edition), Scott discovered ―bio-weapons‖ on page 57 of the original 1963 edi-tion.
Thus Special Collections was able to assist the editors in their search for the first use of the term ―Bio-weapon.‖ DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ANNOUNCES ALL-NEW PORTAL
Joyner Library is pleased to announce the launch of its all-new Digital Collections portal. (http://digital.lib.ecu.edu). The site offers a one-stop-shop for finding the library’s special collections online. Materials from across the holdings of the library are selected for digi-tal conversion — scanning, photographing, or converting audio and video recordings to digital versions. Then these materials are added to our growing website.
Historical items from the University Archives, manuscripts, photographs, rare books, and maps are all featured along with many other types of materials. Prior to the launch of this site, the only access to these items was through the use of the library's Special Collections Department Reading Room. With the new Digital Collections portal, you can find and use these items anytime and from any place.
The items in the website at present focus on several major themes and collections including:
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
PAGE 7
Child holding out an alligator he found, June 10, 1960. This photo-graph and more can be found in the Daily Reflector Negative Collec-tion on the all-new Digital Collections portal at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu. African American history Agriculture Fine and performing arts Postcards of eastern North Carolina Letters from the Civil War in the Robert B. Caldwell Collection Naval and maritime history Military history The development of transportation, manufacturing, and municipal works in eastern North Carolina The history of East Carolina University
You can try simple or advanced searches, browse through collec-tions, or use the subject cloud to discover items you may not have known the library owned. Each record allows you to comment on or tag items, so you can also make your own mark on our collec-tions.
Sound recordings from the Centennial Oral History collection are the most recent major addition. These interviews relate the experi-ences of ECU alumni who were the first in their families to attend college. The collection was created in honor of ECU's Centennial year, and its release coincided with a public program on March 26 to honor the twenty interviewees who participated in the project. Over the coming months, Digital Collections will add more and more material to its site.
--Michael Reece SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION
J. Y. Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, N.C. 27858-4353
Individuals requesting accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should contact the Department
For Disability Support Services at least forty-eight hours prior to visiting at 252.737.1016 (Voice/TTY).
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT
Phone: 252.328.6671 Fax: 252.328.0268
Email: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/Reference/email.cfm
Visit us on the Web at http://www.ecu.edu/lib/spclcoll/
NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION
Phone: 252.328.6601 Fax: 252.328.0868
Email: nccollection@ecu.edu
Visit us on the Web at http://www.ecu.edu/lib/ncc/